Apparatus for providing multiple screens and method of dynamically configuring multiple screens

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for providing multiple screens and a method of dynamically configuring multiple screens are provided. The apparatus for providing multiple screens includes a digital signal processing module which receives predetermined information and restores a service based on the predetermined information, a service processing module which displays one or more logical screens associated with the service, and an output module which arranges the logical screens provided by the service processing module at different locations on a display screen. The logical screens have attribute information indicating an order of displaying the logical screens that are mapped to the display screen.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Nos. 60/705,491, 60/789,577, 60/812,090, filed on Aug. 5,2005, Apr. 6, 2006 and Jun. 9, 2006, respectively in the United StatesPatent and Trademark Office, the disclosures of which are incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate toconfiguring multiple screens, and more particularly, to dynamicallyconfiguring multiple screens which provide multiple contents on a singlephysical display device.

2. Description of the Related Art

Related art broadcast receivers such as digital televisions (TVs) ordigital set-top boxes provide only one content element on a singlephysical display device or simultaneously display a main screen and asub-screen on a single physical display device.

Even though related art broadcast receivers can simultaneously displayboth the main screen and the sub-screen on the same display screen, theycan only arrange the main screen and the sub-screen in a limited numberof manners. In the case of a content displayed within the main screen,all elements of the content, i.e., video data, audio data, and otherdata, are displayed. On the other hand, in the case of a contentdisplayed within the sub-screen, only some of the elements of thecontent are displayed.

Content sources include a broadcast service such as a satellitebroadcaster, a terrestrial broadcaster, or a cable broadcaster, astorage medium such as digital versatile discs (DVDs), or an externaldevice connected to an input terminal. However, it is quite difficult todisplay contents provided by such various content sources on a displayscreen using the existing broadcast receivers.

In an interactive TV application program environment such as theMultimedia Home Platform (MHP), the Advanced Common Application (ACAP),and the Open Cable Application Platform (OCAP), it is assumed that onlyone screen is output on a physical display device.

In the interactive TV application program environment, for example, aHome Audio/Video Interoperability (HAVi)-based user interface (UI) isadopted. According to the HAVi UI standard, even though no restrictionis imposed on the number of screens displayed on a physical displaydevice, only one screen is generally displayed on a physical displaydevice.

In such an environment, it is difficult to perform operations, such asdecoding, digital signal processing, user interaction processing, etc.with respect to one among multimedia contents displayed on a screenwhile displaying the multimedia contents on independent screens. Inaddition, it is also difficult to dynamically control the life cycles ofapplication programs and the use of resources in the units of thescreens.

Accordingly, there exists a need for a method of displaying a variety ofcontents on a dynamically configured screen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a dynamic configuration of multiplescreens which provide a plurality of contents on a physical displaydevice.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided anapparatus for providing multiple screens, the apparatus including adigital signal processing module receiving video information, audioinformation, or data information and restoring a service based on thevideo information, the audio information or the data information, aservice processing module producing a plurality of logical screens fordisplaying the restored service, and an output module mapping theplurality of logical screens provided by the service processing moduleto different locations on a display screen. In this apparatus, thelogical screens may have attribute information indicating the order ofdisplaying the logical screens that are mapped to the display screen.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is providedan apparatus for providing multiple screens, the apparatus including aservice processing module producing a logical screen displaying aservice and a display screen that allows the logical screen to beassociated with the service and displays the logical screen, and anoutput module mapping the produced logical screen to a certain area onthe produced display screen. In this apparatus, the logical screens mayhave attribute information indicating the order of displaying thelogical screens.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an apparatus for providing multiple screens, the apparatusincluding a digital signal processing module receiving videoinformation, audio information, or data information and restoring aservice, a service processing module producing logical screens fordisplaying the restored service, and an output module displaying thelogical screens provided by the service processing module on anarbitrary area of a display screen. In this apparatus, the logicalscreens may have attribute information indicating the order ofdisplaying the logical screens that are mapped to the display screen.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method of dynamically configuring multiple screens, themethod including receiving video information, audio information, or datainformation and restoring a service, producing a plurality of logicalscreens displaying the restored service, and mapping the logical screensto different locations on a display screen. According to this method,the logical screens may have attribute information indicating the orderof displaying the logical screens that are mapped to the display screen.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method of dynamically configuring multiple screens, themethod including producing a plurality of logical screens displaying aservice and a display screen displaying the plurality of logical screen,and mapping the logical screens to arbitrary areas on the displayscreen. According to this method, the logical screens may have attributeinformation indicating the order of displaying the logical screens thatare mapped to the display screen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects of the present invention will become moreapparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof withreference to the attached drawings in which:

FIGS. 1A to 1H are diagrams configurations of a PiP screen according toexemplary embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between a logicalscreen and a display screen according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating service sources according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating a non-abstract service and anabstract service according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating attribute information and interfaces ofa logical screen and a display screen;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating an attribute ‘z-order’ of alogical screen according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating an attribute ‘Display_Area’ ofa logical screen according to exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a method of mapping two services to adisplay screen according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an apparatusfor providing multiple screens according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of dynamically configuringmultiple screens according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a software architecture for providingmultiple screens according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the relationships among modulesconstituting an application programming interface (API) layer accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method of displaying a pluralityof services that are displayed on respective corresponding logicalscreens on a display screen by the modules illustrated in FIG. 12according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method of exchanging servicesdisplayed on logical screens between the modules illustrated in FIG. 12according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Advantages and features of the present invention and methods ofaccomplishing the same may be understood more readily by reference tothe following detailed description of exemplary embodiments and theaccompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodiedin many different forms and should not be construed as being limited tothe exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplaryembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete and will fully convey the concept of the invention to thoseskilled in the art, and the present invention will only be defined bythe appended claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elementsthroughout the specification.

The present invention is described hereinafter with reference toflowchart illustrations of user interfaces, methods, and computerprogram products according to exemplary embodiments of the invention. Itwill be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations, andcombinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations, can beimplemented by computer program instructions. These computer programinstructions can be provided to a processor of a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions,which are executed via the processor of the computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus, create means for implementingthe functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerusable or computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable orcomputer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture includinginstruction means that implement the function specified in the flowchartblock or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions that are executed on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Each block of the flowchart illustrations may represent a module,segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executableinstructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). Itshould also be noted that in some alternative implementations, thefunctions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order. For example,two blocks illustrated in succession may in fact be executedsubstantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed inthe reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.

For a better understanding of the present invention, the terms used inthis disclosure will now be defined.

The term ‘service’ indicates a group of multimedia contents displayedtogether, i.e., a group of service components.

Service components are elements of a service and include a videocomponent, an audio component, and a data component. A data component isan application program in a service.

The term ‘service context’ indicates an object which can control theexecuting of a service and includes various resources, devices, andexecution state information needed for providing a service.

The term ‘physical display device’ indicates a physical device whichactually displays the content of a service, an output port which outputsthe content of a service or a storage medium which stores a service.

The term ‘display screen’ indicates a screen actually displayed on aphysical display device. An arbitrary service may be directly set in thedisplay screen, and the display screen may be displayed on a physicaldisplay device. Alternatively, at least one logical screen which ismapped to a certain area of the display screen may be displayed on thephysical display device.

The term ‘logical screen’ indicates a space in which an arbitraryservice is displayed. A logical screen is a virtual screen before beingmapped to a display screen and thus is not displayed on a physicaldisplay device.

The logical screen and the display screen may be a combination of abackground still image, a video raster, and a graphic raster. Thegraphic raster may be a combination of text, lines, colors, and imagesor a mixture of video frames.

The term ‘main service’ indicates a service that is selected as a mainservice through a menu displayed on the physical display device or aremote controller by a user or through an API by an application, and thescreen on which the main service is displayed is referred to as a ‘mainscreen’.

The term ‘Picture-in-Picture service’ (PiP service) indicates a servicethat is selected as a sub-service in the main service through a menudisplayed on a physical display device or a remote controller by a uservia an API by an application, and the PiP service may be displayed on apicture-in-picture screen (PiP screen) or a main screen.

The PiP screen includes a screen that occupies a part of another screenas illustrated in FIGS. 1A to 1D and a screen that is simultaneouslydisplayed with another screen without overlapping the other screen asillustrated in FIGS. 1E to 1F. In this case, it is understood that thePiP screen may include a screen that overlaps another screen on anarbitrary location or area in the physical display device, asillustrated in FIGS. 1G and 1H.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between a logicalscreen and a display screen according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a service may be displayed using logical screens210, 212, and 214. The logical screens 210, 212, and 214 are mapped todisplay screens 220, 222, and 224 through a mapping block 230.

In detail, the logical screens 210 and 212 are mapped to the displayscreen 220, the logical screens 212 and 214 are mapped to the displayscreen 222, and the logical screens 210, 212, and 214 are mapped to thedisplay screen 224.

In short, at least one logical screen which displays a service is mappedto an arbitrary area of a display screen.

The mapping block 230 is a group of various pieces of information neededfor mapping a logical screen to a display screen. Examples of thevarious pieces of information include coordinate information of apredetermined area on a display screen to which each of a plurality oflogical screens is mapped, identification information of the logicalscreens and the display screen, and information specifying in what orderthe logical screens are displayed on the display screen. The mappingblock 230 may be realized by interfaces or functions prepared by variouscomputer program languages to be executed and create or change therelationship between the logical screen and the display screen by usingthe above information as parameters. Also, the mapping block 230 may berealized by a hardware which has a mapping function between a logicalscreen and a display screen.

Further, services provided by various service sources may be displayedon a display screen, and the display screen may be displayed on aphysical display device, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

There are service sources which provide broadcast services such as aterrestrial broadcaster 320 and a cable broadcaster 330, service sourceswhich provide services stored in a storage medium such as a personalvideo recorder (PVR) 340, and service sources (not illustrated in FIG.3) which provide services via a wired network or a wireless network.

A broadcast receiver 310 receives services from the service sources andproduces logical screens displaying each of the received services.

Then, an arbitrary service is directly set on the display screen to bedisplayed on a physical display device using a predefined method or amethod set by a user or an application. Otherwise, at least one logicalscreen that is mapped to an arbitrary area on the display screen isdisplayed on a physical display device 350. In short, services providedby the terrestrial broadcaster 320, the cable broadcaster 330, and thePVR are displayed on the physical display device 350.

The terrestrial broadcaster 320, the cable broadcaster 330, and the PVR340 are illustrated in FIG. 3 as being service sources, but the presentinvention is not limited to it. Any type of multimedia content sourcewhich provides multimedia contents that can be displayed together can bea service source according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Services according to an exemplary embodiment of the present inventioncan be classified into abstract services and non-abstract services, asillustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B.

The abstract services are not services provided by broadcast signalstransmitted in real time but services independent of broadcast channels.The abstract services include only data components, i.e., applicationprograms, without video components and audio components. Examples of theabstract services include services having unbound applications based onthe OCAP standard.

The non-abstract services are understood as services other than abstractservices.

According to the current exemplary embodiment of the present invention,both abstract services and non-abstract services have independency. Forexample, abstract services may be directly set on the physical displaydevice not through logical screens and non-abstract services may bedisplayed on the logical screens. Then, the logical screens may bemapped to the display screen in which the abstract services are set.Thereafter, the display screen may be output through the physicaldisplay device. By doing so, the abstract services can be displayed onthe display screen independently of the non-abstract services. Inaddition, the abstract services and non-abstract services may be mappedto different logical screens. Thereafter, the logical screens may bemapped to a single display screen. In other words, the abstract servicescan be displayed on the display screen independently of non-abstractservices.

According to the current exemplary embodiment of the present invention,the logical screen and the display screen may be categorized as beingdifferent objects. Alternatively, a screen may serve as a logic screenor a display screen according to attribute information of one screenobject.

In detail, whether a screen object is a logical screen or a displayscreen depends on the ‘type’ information among screen object attributes.

The screen object attributes includes ‘Type’, ‘z-Order’, ‘Display_Area’,‘Visibility’, ‘Associated_Display_Screen’,‘Associated_Service_Contexts’, and ‘OutputPort’.

FIG. 5 illustrates attribute information of a screen object andinterfaces for processing the attributes of the screen.

An attribute ‘Type’ 510 is for determining a screen type, i.e., alogical screen or a display screen.

An attribute ‘z-Order’ 520 is for determining in what order a pluralityof logical screens are arranged along the z-axis. FIGS. 6A and 6Billustrate different configurations of logical screens on a physicaldisplay device for different combinations of the values of attributes‘z-Order’ of the logical screens.

Referring to FIG. 6A, first and second logical screens 620 and 630 arerespectively mapped to predetermined areas of a display screen 610. Indetail, the first logical screen 620 is displayed on the display screen610, and the second logical screen 630 is displayed on the displayscreen partially overlapping the first logical screen 620. In otherwords, the display screen 610, the first logical screen 620, and thesecond logical screen 630 are sequentially arranged in the direction ofthe z-axis. In this case, an attribute ‘z-Order’ of the first logicalscreen 620 may be set to a value of 1, and an attribute ‘z-Order’ of thesecond logical screen 630 may be set to a value of 2. The attributes‘z-Order’ of the first and second logical screens 620 and 630 may be setto any numbers or characters as long as they can represent a certainorder in which the first and second logical screens 620 and 630 are tobe arranged along the z-axis.

Referring to FIG. 6B, when a value of the attribute ‘z-Order’ of thefirst logical screen 620 illustrated in FIG. 6A is changed 1 to 2, and avalue of the attribute ‘z-Order’ of the second logical screen 630 ischanged 2 to 1, the first and second logical screens 620 and 630 arerespectively mapped to predetermined areas of the display screen 610. Inthis case, the display screen 610, the first logical screen 620, and thesecond logical screen 630 are sequentially arranged in the direction ofthe z-axis according to the changed value of the attribute ‘z-Order’.

An attribute ‘Display_Area’ 530 is information regarding a displayscreen area of a logical screen, as to be illustrated in FIGS. 8A and8B.

FIG. 7A illustrates that a logical screen 710 is mapped to an entirearea of the display screen 720, and FIG. 7B illustrates that a logicalscreen 730 is mapped to a partial area of the display screen 740.

The attribute ‘Display_Area’ may include information specifying thetwo-dimensional coordinates of a predetermined portion of a displayscreen to which the logical screen is to be mapped or may includeinformation specifying a predetermined location on the display screenand an offset value indicating how much the logical screen deviates fromthe predetermined location on the display screen.

An attribute ‘Visibility’ 540 determines whether a logical screen is tobe visibly or invisibly displayed on a display screen. It is possible tomake a logical screen appear on or disappear from a display screen byaltering the value of the attribute ‘Visibility’ 530.

An attribute ‘Associated_Display_Screen’ 550 is information regardingdisplay screens associated with a logical screen. A logical screen whichis not associated with any display screens may not be displayed on aphysical display device nor be transmitted to external output devices.

An attribute ‘Associated_Service_Contexts’ 560 is information regardingservice contexts connected to a logical screen or a display screen.Services set in such service contexts may be displayed on a logicalscreen or a display screen.

An attribute ‘OutputPort’ 570 is information regarding devices by whicha display screen is to be output, and such devices include displayscreens, wired/wireless communication media, and various storage media.

Interfaces for identifying or altering the values of the attributesillustrated in FIG. 5 may be provided. Referring to FIG. 5, theinterfaces may include an interface ‘SET’ for setting attribute valuesor connecting a logical screen to a display screen, an interface ‘ADD’for adding attribute values or connecting a logical screen to a service,an interface ‘GET’ for identifying attribute values, and an interface‘REMOVE’ for deleting attribute values. These interfaces may includeprocesses, functions, procedures, or methods that perform theirfunctions, respectively.

For example, a method ‘setZOrder(int order)’ sets or alters theattribute ‘Z-Order’ described above. The parameter ‘order’ refers toattribute information representing the order of displaying the logicalscreens when the logical screens are displayed on the display screen. Indetail, the method ‘setZOrder(int order)’ is a setting interface forsetting the attribute ‘Z-Order’.

An exception handling for the method ‘setZOrder(int order)’ can beconducted. This exception handling is conducted when the current screenis not a logical screen or the attribute ‘Z-Order’ of the current screencan not be changed due to a hardware or software characteristics.

Corresponding to the method ‘setZOrder(int order)’, a method‘getZOrder(void)’ provides attribute information of ‘Z-Order’ in thecurrent screen without any parameters, and return the value of ‘Z-Order’that is not negative. If the current screen is a display screen, themethod ‘getZOrder(void)’ preferably returns 0, and the logical screenpreferably has a natural number larger than 1. The method‘getZOrder(void)’ is an acquisition interface for acquiring informationof the attribute ‘Z-Order’.

According to another example, a method ‘getDisplayScreen(void)’ returnsa display screen associated with the current screen. In detail, if thecurrent screen is a logical screen, the method ‘getDisplayScreen(void)’returns the associated display screen. If the current screen is displayscreen, the method ‘getDisplayScreen(void)’ returns referenceinformation regarding the current screen. Further, if the current screenis a logical screen, but there is no associated screen, the method‘getDisplayScreen(void)’ returns a value of ‘NULL’.

According to still another example, a method ‘public voidsetDisplayArea(HScreenRectangle rect) throws SecurityException,IllegalStateException’ provides a function for mapping the currentlogical screen to a predetermined area of the associated display screen.An instance that is provided as a parameter is of a class‘HScreenRectangle’ of a package ‘org.havi.ui’, and has two-dimensionalposition information. The execution of the methods ‘SecurityException’and ‘IllegalStateException’ may be conducted as an exceptional operationfor the method ‘setOutputScreen(HScreen screen)’. The method‘IllegalStateException’ may be executed when the current screen is alogical screen or when a portion of a display screen associated with acurrent logical screen cannot change due to the characteristics of ahost platform.

According to still another example, a method ‘getOutputArea(void)’returns regional information of a current screen as HScreenRectangleinformation. If the current screen corresponds to a display screen, themethod ‘getOutputArea(void)’ returns HScreenRectangle information havingthe same value as HScreenRectangle (0,0,1,1). If the current screen is alogical screen, the method ‘getOutputArea(void)’ returns informationregarding an area on a display screen occupied by the current screen. Ifthe current screen is a logical screen but is not associated with anydisplay screen, the method ‘getOutputArea(void)’ returns a value ‘NULL’.

Certain terms are used throughout the following description to refer toparticular interfaces. However, one skilled in the art will appreciatethat a particular function is named simply to indicate itsfunctionality. This detailed description of the exemplary embodimentsdoes not intend to distinguish between functions that differ in name butnot function.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a process that two services are set ona display screen to be mapped to a single screen.

Referring to FIG. 8, a first service includes all the three servicecomponents, i.e., video, audio, and data components, and a secondservice includes only video and audio components. However, the presentinvention does not impose any restrictions on service components, andthe first and second services illustrated in FIG. 8 are exemplary.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the first and second services are displayed ona physical display device in almost the same manner as in the relatedart. According to the current exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, it is possible to display a plurality of services on aphysical display device independently of one another without imposingany restrictions on the number of services that can be displayed on asingle display screen.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an apparatus for providing multiple screensaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, an apparatus 900 for providing multiple screensincludes a digital signal processing module 940, a service processingmodule 950, an output module 960, and a user/application interfacemodule 965.

Also, the apparatus 900 includes a broadcast signal reception module910, a storage medium 920, and an external input module 930 as servicesources, and includes a display screen 970, a storage medium 980, and anexternal output module 990 as service output media.

The term ‘module’, as used herein, means, but is not limited to, asoftware or hardware component, such as a Field Programmable Gate Array(FPGA) or an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), whichperforms certain tasks. A module may advantageously be configured toreside on the addressable storage medium and configured to be executedon one or more processors. Thus, a module may include, by way ofexample, components, such as software components, object-orientedsoftware components, class components and task components, processes,functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of programcode, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, datastructures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functionality providedfor in the components and modules may be combined into fewer componentsand modules or further separated into additional components and modules.

The digital signal processing module 940 receives various information ofa service such as a multimedia content, e.g., video information, audioinformation, or data information, from the broadcast signal receptionmodule 910, the storage medium 920, or the external input module 930.

The broadcast signal reception module 910 receives a satellite,terrestrial, or cable broadcast signal and transmits the receivedbroadcast signal, the storage medium 920 stores video information, audioinformation, or data information of a service, and the external inputmodule 930 receives video information, audio information, or datainformation of a service from an external device such as a networkinterface module connected to a network.

The digital signal processing module 940 restores a plurality ofservices using received service components. The restored servicesinclude abstract or non-abstract services.

Here, the phrase ‘a plurality of services’ refers to two or moreservices transmitted by the broadcast signal reception module 910 or twoor more services respectively transmitted by the broadcast signalreception module 910 and the storage medium 920.

The digital signal processing module 940 may restore services accordingto selection by a user or an application with the aid of theuser/application interface module 965. In this case, the user or theapplication may select the connection between an arbitrary service and ascreen.

The service processing module 950 produces a plurality of logicalscreens to display the services restored by the digital signalprocessing module 940.

The output module 960 maps a plurality of logical screens produced bythe service processing module 950 to the display screen. The mapping ofthe logical screens to the display screen may be conducted using apredefined method or a method set by the user with the aid of theuser/application interface module 965.

A service restored by the digital signal processing module 940 may notbe processed by the service module 950. Instead, a service restored bythe digital signal processing module 940 may be directly mapped to acertain portion of a display screen produced by the output module 960.

A display screen provided by the output module 960 may be displayed onthe physical display device 970 or may be stored in the storage medium980. Examples of the storage medium 980 include computer readable floppydiscs, hard discs, CD-ROM. DVD, DVD-ROM, BD (Blu-ray Disc), andsemiconductor memories.

Also, a display screen provided by the output module 960 may betransmitted to an external device connected to a network via theexternal output module 990.

For this, the output module 960 may include a plurality of output portsvia which a display screen can be provided. In this case, a displayscreen can be provided via an output port set in advance as a default oran output port chosen by the user with the aid of the user/applicationinterface module 965.

The user or the application can choose one of a plurality of services orrestore desired services using the user/application interface module965. Also, the user can choose one of a plurality of display screensusing the user/application interface module 965.

Since the modules illustrated in FIG. 9 are divided according to theirfunctions, it is possible to be connected to the other modules.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of dynamically configuringmultiple screens according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

In general, video information, audio information, and data informationconstituting a multimedia content are transmitted in a predeterminedformat, for example, an MPEG stream format. In operation S1010, anapparatus for providing a service such as multimedia content servicereceives video information, audio information, and data information andrestores a service based on the video information, the audioinformation, and the data information. Here, the service restored inoperation S1010 may be selected or previously determined by a user or anapplication. The user may use a menu displayed on the display device ora remote controller to select the connections between an arbitraryscreen and a screen. The application may select the connections using anAPI.

Further, data information includes application information regardingapplication program for a service, and these application informationincludes signal information indicating whether the application programcan be executed on a PiP screen. Examples of the application informationinclude an application information table (AIT) based on the MHP standardand an eXtended application information table (XAIT) based on the OCAPstandard. The signal information may be added to the application.

Thereafter, in operation S1020, the restored service is set such that itcan be displayed on a logical screen. In operation S1030, the logicalscreen is mapped to a display screen. In operation S1040, the displayscreen is provided to the user using a display screen, a storage medium,or a network.

The restored service is illustrated in FIG. 10 as being displayed on aphysical display device via a logical screen. However, the restoredservice may be directly displayed on a physical display device withoutpassing through the logical screen.

When the user selects the PiP service, the PiP service is realized intwo modes. In a first mode, only video component for PiP serviceselected on the main screen is provided without creating a separatelogical screen for PiP service, that is, PiP screen. In a second mode, aseparate logical screen for PiP service is created to provide the PiPservice selected on the created PiP screen.

FIG. 10 illustrates a method of mapping only one service to a displayscreen for simplicity. However, a plurality of services may be mapped toa display screen with or without passing through a plurality of logicalscreens.

When a display screen is provided to the user in this manner, the usercan perform a plurality of services.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a software architecture for providingmultiple screens according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 11, a software architecture 1100 includes a devicedriver layer 1110, an API layer 1120, and an application layer 1130.

The device driver layer 1110 receives service components from variousmultimedia content sources and decodes the received service components.Examples of the received service components include video information,audio information, and data information.

The API layer 1120 generates a logical screen and a display screen andmaps a service, the logical screen, and the display screen to oneanother.

The application layer 1130 provides a user interface so that a user candynamically configure a logical screen which displays a service ortransmits a user command to the API layer 1120 so that the API layer1120 can execute the user command.

The user enables the device driver layer 1110 with the aid of theapplication layer 1130 to provide a display screen via a physicaldisplay device or to store the display screen in a storage medium. Inaddition, the user can enable the device driver layer 1110 to transmit adisplay screen to an external device via a network.

For this, the device driver layer 1110 may include a plurality of outputports which can provide a display screen. Otherwise, API layer 1120 mayinclude the plurality of output ports.

In order to dynamically configure a plurality of logical screens on adisplay screen, the API layer 1120 may include a plurality of softwaremodules, e.g., a multiscreen manager module ‘MultiScreenManager’ 1210, amultiscreen context module ‘MultiScreenContext’ 1230, a multiscreencontext listener module ‘MultiScreenContextListener’ 1250, and amultiscreen context event module ‘MultiScreenContextEvent’ 1240, asillustrated in FIG. 12.

The multiscreen manager module 1210 manages the multiscreen contextmodule 1230, searches for a desired screen, displays informationspecifying what devices are shared by screens, registers the multiscreencontext listener module 1250, or cancels the registration of the screencontext listener module 1250.

The multiscreen context module 1230 is an interface object associatedwith a screen object 1220 and determines whether the screen object 1220is to become a logical screen or a display screen according to aninterface operation performed by the multiscreen context module 1230.Various attributes such as the attributes 510 through 570 illustrated inFIG. 5 may be set in the multiscreen context module 1230. Themultiscreen context module 1230 can provide the functions ‘SET’, ‘ADD’,‘GET’, and ‘REMOVE’ described above with reference to FIG. 5.

When attribute information of the screen object 1220 is altered by themultiscreen context module 1230, the multiscreen context event module1240 serves as an event class announcing that the attribute informationof the screen object 1220 has been changed, and the multiscreen contextlistener module 1250 serves as a listener interface object which can berealized in a predetermined application class which attempts to receivean event prompted by the multiscreen context event module 1240.

An application 1260 is a module which is driven on the application layer1130. The application 1260 allows the user to choose a desired serviceand to freely arrange a plurality of logical screens on a displayscreen.

In detail, the application 1260 transmits various commands which allowthe user to dynamically configure and manage logical screens to themultiscreen manager module 1210, and the multiscreen manager module 1210controls operations corresponding to the various commands to be executedthrough the multiscreen context module 1230.

The multiscreen context module 1230 is associated with the screen object1220 and manages the attribute information of the screen object 1220illustrated in FIG. 5. In order to manage the attribute information ofthe screen object 1220, the multiscreen context module 1230 may includea variety of functions or methods.

The multiscreen manager module 1210 receives service components providedby various service sources from the device driver layer 1110 andperforms operations to display the received service components on alogical screen or a display screen.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method of displaying a pluralityof services displayed on respective corresponding logical screens by themodules illustrated in FIG. 12 on a display screen according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 13, in operation S1310, the multiscreen manager module1210 produces a display screen and a number of logical screenscorresponding to the number of services to be performed.

In operation S1320, the multiscreen manager module 1210 connects thelogical screens to respective corresponding services received from thedevice driver layer 1110. The multiscreen manager module 1210 may call amethod ‘addServiceContext’ for each of the logical screens by settingservice context objects of the received services as parameters for thelogical screens services. The method ‘addServiceContext’ connects alogical screen to a service and may be provided by the multiscreencontext module 1230.

In operation S1330, once the logical screens are connected to therespective services, the multiscreen manager module 1210 connects thelogical screens to the display screen. At this time, the multiscreenmanager module 1210 may call a method ‘setDisplayScreen’ for each of thelogical screens by setting a display screen object to which the logicalscreens are connected as a parameter. The method ‘setDisplayScreen’connects a logical screen to a display screen and may be provided by themultiscreen context module 1230.

A method ‘setDisplayScreensetDisplayScreen’ may be set to ‘public voidsetDisplayScreensetDisplayScreen(HScreen screen) throwsSecurityException, Illegal StateException’, and this method allows aninstance ‘HScreen’ that is provided as a parameter to be associated withthe current logical screen. In this case, the instance ‘HScreen’ ispreferably a display screen.

A parameter of the method ‘setDisplayScreen(HScreen screen)’ may includea value of ‘NULL’. In this case, when the method‘setDisplayScreen(HScreen screen)’ is executed without exceptionhandling, the current logical screen is no longer associated with thedisplay screen.

The execution of the methods ‘SecurityException’ and‘IllegalStateException’ may be conducted as an exceptional operation forthe method ‘setOutputScreen(HScreen screen)’.

The method ‘IllegalStateException’ may be executed when a current screenis a logical screen or when a portion of a display screen associatedwith a current logical screen cannot change due to the characteristicsof a host platform.

In operation S1340, areas on the display screen to which the logicalscreens are to be respectively mapped are determined. At this time, apredetermined method provided by the multiscreen context module 1230 canbe called to determine an area on the display screen where the logicalscreens are to be displayed.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method of exchanging servicesdisplayed on logical screens between the modules illustrated in FIG. 12according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In operation S1410, the multiscreen manager module 1210 temporarilyterminates a service to be exchanged between two logical screens.

Thereafter, in operation S1420, information regarding the service isexchanged between the two logical screens. At this time, a method‘removeServiceContext’ and a method ‘addServiceContext’ are called foreach of the two logical screens, thereby exchanging service contexts setin the two logical screens between the two logical screens. The method‘removeContext’ removes a service context connected to a logical screen,and the method ‘addServiceContext’ adds a new service context to alogical screen. The methods ‘removeServiceContext’ and‘addServiceContext’ may be provided by the multiscreen context module1230. According to the current exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, service information regarding a service connected to logicalservices is exchanged between the logical services, thereby obtainingthe effect of exchanging a main screen and a sub-screen. In addition,according to the current exemplary embodiment of the present invention,even when three or more services are performed on a display screen, theycan be exchanged between an arbitrary number of logical screens.

In operation S1430, occurrence of an event in which the connectionbetween the service and the two logical screens has been changed isgenerated. Thereafter, in operation S1440, the multiscreen context eventmodule 1240 transmits the event to the multiscreen context listenermodule 1250, and a service newly connected to the two logical screensbegins to be performed.

According to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, it ispossible to perform a plurality of services provided by various sourcessuch as cable broadcasts, terrestrial broadcasts, various storage media,and external inputs, in various manners using a single physical displayscreen.

While the present invention has been particularly illustrated anddescribed with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will beunderstood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes inform and details may be made therein without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.Therefore, it is to be understood that the above-described embodimentshave been provided only in a descriptive sense and will not be construedas placing any limitation on the scope of the invention.

1. An apparatus for providing multiple screens, the apparatuscomprising: a digital signal processing module which receives videoinformation components of broadcasting services, audio informationcomponents of broadcasting services, and data regarding databroadcasting services, and restores a plurality of services based on thevideo information components, the audio information components, and thedata which are received; a service processing module which generates adisplay screen and a plurality of logical screens for displaying theplurality of services restored by the digital signal processing module;and an output module which maps the logical screens generated by theservice processing module to different areas on the display screen,wherein the logical screens comprise attribute information indicating anarrangement order between the mapped logical screens in the displayscreen in a direction of a z-axis, wherein each of the plurality oflogical screens and the display screen comprises at least one of abackground layer, a video layer, and a graphic layer, and wherein atleast one of the digital signal processing module, the serviceprocessing module and the output module comprises a hardware processor.2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the attribute information is set bya setting interface having the attribute information as a parameter. 3.The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the setting interface performs anexception handling if a current screen is not a logical screen.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 2, wherein the setting interface performs anexception handling if the attribute information of a current screencannot be changed.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the attributeinformation is obtained by an interface that provides the attributeinformation of a current screen.
 6. An apparatus for providing multiplescreens, the apparatus comprising: a service processing module whichgenerates a plurality of logical screens displaying a plurality of databroadcasting services and a display screen that allows the logicalscreens to be associated with the services, and displays the logicalscreens; and an output module which maps the logical screens to certainareas on the display screen, wherein the logical screens compriseattribute information indicating an arrangement order between the mappedlogical screens in the display screen in a direction of a z-axis,wherein each of the plurality of data broadcasting services comprises avideo component, an audio component, and a data component, wherein eachof the plurality of logical screens in the display screen comprises atleast one of a background layer, a video layer, and a graphic layer, andwherein at least one of the service processing module and the outputmodule comprises a hardware processor.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6,wherein the attribute information is set by a setting interface havingthe attribute information as a parameter.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7,wherein the setting interface performs an exception handling if acurrent screen is not a logical screen.
 9. The apparatus of claim 7,wherein the setting interface performs an exception handling if theattribute information of a current screen cannot be changed.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 6, wherein the attribute information is obtained byan interface that provides the attribute information of a currentscreen.
 11. An apparatus for providing multiple screens, the apparatuscomprising: a digital signal processing module which receives videoinformation components of broadcasting services, audio informationcomponents of broadcasting services, and data regarding databroadcasting services, and restores a plurality of services based on thevideo information components, the audio information components, and thedata which are received; a service processing module which generates aplurality of logical screens for displaying services restored by thedigital signal processing module; and an output module which maps thelogical screens generated by the service processing module to arbitraryareas on the display screen, wherein the logical screens compriseattribute information indicating an arrangement order between the mappedlogical screens in the display screen in a direction of a z-axis,wherein each of the plurality of logical screens and the display screencomprises at least one of a background layer, a video layer, and agraphic layer, and wherein at least one of the digital signal processingmodule, the service processing module and the output module comprises ahardware processor.
 12. A method of dynamically configuring multiplescreens, the method comprising: receiving video information componentsof broadcasting services, audio information components of broadcastingservices, and data regarding data broadcasting services; restoring aplurality of services based on the video information components, theaudio information components, and the data which is received; generatinga display screen and a plurality of logical screens for displaying theplurality of services which are restored; and mapping the logicalscreens to different areas on the display screen, wherein the logicalscreens comprise attribute information indicating an arrangement orderbetween the mapped logical screens in the display screen in a directionof a z-axis, and wherein each of the plurality of logical screens andthe display screen comprises at least one of a background layer, a videolayer, and a graphic layer.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein theattribute information is set by a setting interface having the attributeinformation as a parameter.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein thesetting interface performs an exception handling if a current screen isnot a logical screen.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the settinginterface performs an exception handling if the attribute information ofa current screen cannot be changed.
 16. The method of claim 12, whereinthe attribute information is obtained by an interface that provides theattribute information of a current screen.
 17. A method of dynamicallyconfiguring multiple screens, the method comprising: generating aplurality of logical screens displaying a plurality of data broadcastingservices and a display screen displaying the logical screens; andmapping the logical screens to arbitrary areas on the display screen,wherein the logical screens comprise attribute information indicating anarrangement order between the mapped logical screens in the displayscreen in a direction of a z-axis, wherein each of the plurality of databroadcasting services comprises a video component, and audio component,and a data component, and wherein each of the plurality of logicalscreens and the display screen comprises at least one of a backgroundlayer, a video layer, and a graphic layer.
 18. The method of claim 17,wherein the attribute information is set by a setting interface havingthe attribute information as a parameter.
 19. The method of claim 18,wherein the setting interface performs an exception handling if acurrent screen is not a logical screen.
 20. The method of claim 18,wherein the setting interface performs an exception handling if theattribute information of a current screen cannot be changed.
 21. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the attribute information is obtained by aninterface that provides the attribute information of a current screen.